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<H2 CLEAR='right'>2.1.1. Overview: Devices, <CODE>stream_buffer</CODE> and <CODE>stream</CODE></H2>
<P>Writing a new stream or stream buffer class using the Boost Iostreams library is easy: you simply write a class modeling the <A HREF="../concepts/device.html">Device</A> concept, then use that class as the template argument to <A HREF="../guide/generic_streams.html#stream"><CODE>stream</CODE></A> or <A HREF="../guide/generic_streams.html#stream_buffer"><CODE>stream_buffer</CODE></A>:
<PRE CLASS="broken_ie"><SPAN CLASS='preprocessor'>#include</SPAN> <A CLASS="HEADER" HREF="../../../../boost/iostreams/stream.hpp"><SPAN CLASS='literal'><boost/iostreams/stream.hpp></SPAN></A>
<SPAN CLASS='preprocessor'>#include</SPAN> <A HREF="../../../../boost/iostreams/stream_buffer.hpp"><SPAN CLASS='literal'><boost/iostreams/stream_buffer.hpp></SPAN></A>
<SPAN CLASS='keyword'>namespace</SPAN> io = boost::iostreams;
<SPAN CLASS='keyword'>class</SPAN> my_device { <SPAN CLASS='comment'>/* */</SPAN> };
<SPAN CLASS='keyword'>typedef</SPAN> io::stream<my_device> my_stream;
<SPAN CLASS='keyword'>typedef</SPAN> io::stream_buffer<my_device> my_streambuf;</PRE>
<P>Here <CODE>io::stream_buffer<my_device></CODE> is a derived class of <CODE>std::basic_streambuf</CODE>, and <CODE>io::stream<my_device></CODE> is a derived class of <CODE>std::basic_istream</CODE>, <CODE>std::basic_ostream</CODE> or <CODE>std::basic_iostream</CODE> depending on the <A HREF="../guide/modes.html">mode</A> of my_device, <I>i.e.</I>, depending on which of the fundamental i/o operations <A HREF="../functions/read.html"><CODE>read</CODE></A>, <A HREF="../functions/write.html"><CODE>write</CODE></A> and <A HREF="../functions/seek.html"><CODE>seek</CODE></A> it supports.
<P>The template <CODE>io::stream</CODE> is provided as a convenience. It's always possibly to avoid <CODE>io::stream</CODE> and simply use <CODE>io::stream_buffer</CODE> together with one of the standard library stream templates. <I>E.g.</I>,
<PRE CLASS="broken_ie"><SPAN CLASS='preprocessor'>#include</SPAN> <SPAN CLASS='literal'><ostream></SPAN>
<SPAN CLASS='preprocessor'>#include</SPAN> <A CLASS="HEADER" HREF="../../../../boost/iostreams/device/file.hpp"><SPAN CLASS='literal'><boost/iostreams/device/file.hpp></SPAN></A>
<SPAN CLASS='preprocessor'>#include</SPAN> <A CLASS="HEADER" HREF="../../../../boost/iostreams/stream.hpp"><SPAN CLASS='literal'><boost/iostreams/stream.hpp></SPAN></A>
<SPAN CLASS='keyword'>namespace</SPAN> io = boost::iostreams;
<SPAN CLASS='keyword'>int</SPAN> main()
{
io::stream_buffer<io::file_sink> buf(<SPAN CLASS='literal'>"log.txt"</SPAN>);
std::ostream out(&buf);
<SPAN CLASS='comment'>// out writes to log.txt</SPAN>
}</PRE>
<P>In this example, the <CODE>ostream</CODE> <CODE>out</CODE> uses the <CODE>stream_buffer</CODE> <CODE>buf</CODE> as its underlying data sink, so that data written to <CODE>out</CODE> goes to the file <I>log.txt</I>. The same effect could be achieved by default constructing <CODE>out</CODE> and telling it to use stream buffer <CODE>buf</CODE> by invoking <CODE>out.rdbuf(&buf)</CODE>.
<P>Another way to define a new stream or stream buffer class using the Boost Iostreams library is to derive from <A HREF="../classes/filtering_stream.html"><CODE>filtering_stream</CODE></A> or <A HREF="../classes/filtering_streambuf.html"><CODE>filtering_streambuf</CODE></A>.
<P>The next three items will demonstrate how to write Devices for accessing STL-compatible containers. The source code for the examples can be found in the header <A HREF="../../example/container_device.hpp"><<CODE>libs/iostreams/example/container_device.hpp</CODE>></A></P>
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<P CLASS="copyright">Revised 02 Feb 2008</P>
<P CLASS="copyright">© Copyright 2008 <a href="http://www.coderage.com/" target="_top">CodeRage, LLC</a><br/>© Copyright 2004-2007 <a href="http://www.coderage.com/turkanis/" target="_top">Jonathan Turkanis</a></P>
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Use, modification, and distribution are subject to the Boost Software License, Version 2.0. (See accompanying file <A HREF="../../../../LICENSE_1_0.txt">LICENSE_1_0.txt</A> or copy at <A HREF="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</A>)
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